New England captain Broad suffers T20 loss to Sri Lanka
- Published
Sri Lanka 137-1 (17.2 overs) beat England 136-9 (20 overs) by nine wickets at Bristol (Match scorecard, external) |
Stuart Broad suffered a crushing defeat by Sri Lanka in his first game in charge of England in the one-off Twenty20 match at Bristol on Saturday.
Put into bat, the hosts lost two early wickets but raced to 95-2 with Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan in top form.
But England stuttered to 136-9 as Lasith Malinga and Sanath Jayasuriya took two wickets each.
Mahela Jayawardene (72) and Kumar Sangakkara (43) then pounded a limp attack as the tourists cruised home.
England may be World Twenty20 champions but following a lacklustre World Cup campaign, their efforts in Bristol will have done little to inspire confidence for their forthcoming 50-over commitments.
At a blustery and chilly County Ground, Broad lost his first ever toss as his country's skipper and his team began poorly. Their World Twenty20-winning openers - Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb - were in the pavilion after 15 balls with 12 runs on the board.
But England, fresh from their recent 1-0 Test series win against Sri Lanka, hit back thanks to the flashing blades of Pietersen and Morgan.
With Suranga Lakmal and Thisara Perera straying off-line and dishing up inviting full tosses, the England pair were brutal as the score raced to 67-2 off 10 overs.
But soon after the hosts set a new record for their third wicket partnership in this format, this year's World Cup finalists were celebrating, with Jayawardene snaring Morgan (47 from 32 balls) off Malinga, while veteran Sanath Jayasuriya clean bowled Pietersen (41 from 27).
It proved to be the match's turning point as the decision to omit Ian Bell seemed increasingly puzzling as the scoreboard ground to a halt.
A sloppy run out by Samit Patel, in his first international for 32 months, was followed by Jayasuriya bowling out Ravi Bopara and England limped home with the efficient Malinga finishing with two wickets for 15.
It was a modest target and England began in charitable mood as Chris Woakes and debutant Jade Dernbach were belted for 31 in the first three overs.
Broad reacted by bringing himself on but it was new-boy Dernbach who made the breakthrough by forcing Jayasuriya, 42 on Tuesday, to hit straight to Pietersen.
That was as good as it got as Jayawardene (72 off 57) and Sangakkara (43 off 39) crushed everything thrown in their way.
The pair amassed 80 at the halfway stage and with Broad and Graeme Swann's spin failing to spark, Sri Lanka were in cruise control as they hit the winning runs with 16 balls left.
- Published8 May 2011